If you will strive to have a pleasant disposition while you’re doing whatever you’re doing in the world, there is a greater tendency for your Soul, which is so perfect and so loving, to radiate out of your pleasant disposition.

A truly pleasant disposition is loving, compassionate, and empathic, with the ability to know what’s going on in the world, because it is not run by the ego.

If you take that same pleasantness back inside you, you live with an abundance of enthusiasm that overflows to others.

Now, that is truly helping the planet.

From What's It Like Being You by John-Roger, DSS with Paul Kaye

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I found this interesting it is from a Bloomberg review of George Friedman's new book The Next 100 Years. I respect Friedman a lot.

“The United States -- far from being on the verge of decline -- has actually just begun its ascent,” Friedman writes in this geopolitical thriller.

Already in 2009, Friedman says, the jihadists behind the shock of Sept. 11, 2001, are a receding threat, their goal of an Islamic empire straddling Europe and Asia shattered by divisions in the Muslim world.

China will be the next challenger to go, torn apart by the inevitable economic slowdown and rekindled tensions between the coastal provinces and the countryside, Friedman predicts. Russia will hang on longer, rebuilding a Soviet bloc-lite by 2015, only to lose the second Cold War in much the same way it lost the first, and more quickly.

Two facts will drive the century according to this forecast: America’s dominance of the world’s oceans and its comparatively low population density. Dismissing the Great Man school of history, Friedman pays little attention to the triumphs and blunders of political leaders. He instead argues that each country’s grand strategy is “deeply embedded” in its DNA.

There are some brilliant apercus to be found in these pages. The U.S. “tends to first underestimate and then overestimate enemies,” we read. Russia is rearming because “rich and weak is a bad position for nations to be in.”

Paul Kedrosky had this to say about it:

Some musings from George Friedman of Stratfor today got me thinking about demographics and the future of the U.S. What people forget is that while the U.S. is aging, it is still a relatively young country in demographic terms. It is younger than almost all of Europe, as well as Japan, of course, but not (currently) China. That is a tremendous advantage, and one that is likely to tilt further in the U.S.'s.

These are, of course, wild-ass guesses, and I'm cheerfully skeptical that it all works out so neatly in the U.S.'s favor. But there is no denying Friedman is an entertaining geopolitical analyst. And, from an entirely selfish perspective, he did manage to make me go check U.S./China UN demographic data on the two countries aging rates. It compares the proportions of the two countries' populations age 65 and older in 2010, and in 2050. The pace at which China will go from a young society to an elderly one is remarkable.

How do you know your tithing works? By the results that it’s bearing. And what if it doesn’t bear the results? You didn’t do it out of your heart. God says that He loves a joyful giver. You forgot to smile as you wrote the check. You forgot to say, “Thank you, Lord, and there’s more coming. And thanks for the health and thanks for this and this and this.”

The thankfulness is like a litany, almost like chanting the spiritual exercise mantra. It will start to produce changes in us that are remarkable. And often it also produces changes in other people around us that are equally as remarkable, because with those we love and care for, we share the goodness and the bounty of our spirit.

From God Is Your Partner by John-Roger, DSS

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I took a "vacation" today to complete my year end finances, bring our budget up to date, and prepare for filing year end tax returns. I keep everything on Quicken so it was all organized and I could produce a financial statement virtually with a click.

There were some surprises, our grocery bills were down over last year-I think because we did less in house entertaining. Our meals out were a lot of money despite the fact we don't go to restaurants and none of the bills were over $50--except Thanksgiving at Prana! This proves that small amounts on a regular basis really add up.

Overall, things were tighter than I thought and I therefore wondered why I had felt so abundant lately. After chatting with Shelley the key was that we are living the life we want to live. And while we don't buy luxuries and lead a simple, frugal lifestyle, we do buy what is essential to us--food, books, art supplies.

Our saying/focus/affirmation for the year is: "What we need comes forward and we give of the overflow." I like it because it reflects our values--our trust in God and our love of giving.

The following quote is from Timeless Wisdoms by J-R. Please read it and keep it close by you. There are so many keys here to living the spiritual principles of abundance and prosperity. Every time you read or hear anything negative about the economy or environment, instead of being caught up in what is being said, perhaps you can read this quote.

Ultimately, you can’t do anything “wrong,” because God is with you, in you as you, and is making sure that it all comes out perfectly. And that is a lot to be thankful for.

An attitude of gratitude is also a key to being in harmony with infinite supply. When you can honestly and truly thank God for what you have, for all your experiences, for all the people in your life, and for all your expressions, the sense of gratitude goes very deep. In that depth, you are open to infinite supply.

You also might think about being grateful when your desires are not being fulfilled. You might think about being grateful when your prayers are not being answered. Let those desires and prayers go, and ask only for the highest good, that you might be free of the creation of desire, that you might be free from illusion, that you might be free to know your own Soul and its perfection and glory.

Sometimes the best way to make the most out of a situation is to get out of it. The other way is to accept it and be grateful that it isn’t worse. I find that it’s much easier to just love it all. When it shows up, I go, “Wow. Another form of loving. Another face of loving. Another expression of loving. Another location of loving.” And then I get to participate in it. That’s grateful.

As you accept what you have and give thanks for your blessings, you find your life becoming happier and happier. Because, truly, my friends, you are blessed. There is not one of you who is not continually receiving of God’s infinite blessings and grace.

When we look at our business in terms of, "I wonder if I'll make money next year." Or, "Will I have a job next year? I wonder if they'll rehire me." Lord, what are you doing to yourself? The answer is probably not because you're manifesting lack. You're manifesting it. You're creating it with your breath instead of saying, "Hey, next year I'll have a job. I don't care if it's this job. But the job is going to be more abundantly alive, awakening me, than ever before and God help me be strong enough to fulfill it the greatest way possible. And let me learn and get strong so that when it comes I can't say 'Oh no' because I can't handle it because I was not prepared." You see, the big difference we're dealing with?

The abundance doesn't come in on your timing. It comes in on its timing. So part of your manifestation is not to manifest impatience. That's a lack of patience. Yours is lack. Yours is not the fulfillment. You see, if we ask for anything in terms of this world, in terms of spirit, in terms of another individual, we must be willing to give to receive. We must be willing to make that first overture, that first presentation. If we're going to manifest the fullness, then we must represent fullness. If we represent fullness all the time, what do we have? Full-ness. It's not positive thinking because you can positively think it full or not be full. You manifest fullness. You become that all the time.

No matter what happens, you pull from inside of you and give of the fullness. And people will ask. “Where did you get it?" And you say, "I don't have the foggiest, it was just there--the Father is delivering to me all the time. All I had to do is do." And the manifestation of the abundance is the doing. When we do, it starts coming through. Now, here's the big key: We always look out there for people to manifest to us our abundance through God. What we're doing is we're restricting what can come to us.

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I received a question that if the dollar will be declining what do I do with my money magnet?

Gold. There is a reason that it’s hard to find gold coins. People have caught on. Still, there is no need for panic, cash is going to be useful for a while. But for the long term, gold has the history of longevity. And of course real estate is wonderful to own. The basic self loves land.

I have never been a fan of the hysteria that has surfaced on all sides in recent years at a hint of recession, and the panic to throw public money at the economy. Mild recessions have several long-term advantages discussed in earlier Letters, but in recent years we seem to have lost interest in the long term.

However, this time it's different. This is the Real McCoy crisis, and we must welcome all the stimulus we can get. It is easy, though, to end up employing people to build mildly useful parks or, in the Japanese style, nearly useless bridges to nowhere. Government stimulus can have a decent (even high) return in the long run. It absolutely doesn't have to be a series of boondoggles. Let me suggest that the magic word this time is not "plastics" but "alternatives." Massive spending on energy and, better yet, energy savings will create jobs, stimulate the economy, produce a good long-term economic return, reduce dependence on depleting Middle Eastern oil, curtail carbon dioxide emissions, and set, for once, a real example for other countries. From the simplest - better insulation and more efficient machines - through the new alternatives - solar, wind power, and second generation biomass - to the potentially massive investments in new nuclear plants and efficient energy transmission, this could be in total a long range bonanza for the U.S. in economic and broader respects. Such a program could offset the risks of a Japanese-style drawn-out recession. It would be potentially an epoch-defining change, and one of which, like the Marshall Plan, future generations might be proud.

You can return to the Beloved on your breath, on your gratitude, on your loving, and on your unconditional giving. There are many ways into the Beloved when you are prepared to let go and let God. Your reward will be the enthusiasm you have for your life regardless of your circumstances. You will walk in Grace. And the Grace of God did not say for one moment that you wouldn’t have any pain, or that you won’t meet any adversity. Its only promise is that you are going to live in the Spirit while you walk through this world.

(From: The Rest of Your Life by John-Roger, DSS, and Paul Kaye)

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One of the more extraordinary things that I have heard was when George W. Bush, in the wake of 9/11, told us all to “go shopping.” More recently he gave us our own money back in a Government stimulus package which was aimed for one purpose—for us to go shopping. As some cynics have pointed out, not completely erroneously, we got money from the Government so we could buy Chinese goods, so that they then could lend it back to us, so we could then afford to pay unfriendly countries for their oil.

In actuality, none of this is surprising when you consider that 70 percent of the U.S. economy is consumer driven. In other words the economy depends on us spending money on things. Now some things we need, food for example. But a lot of things we don’t. In other countries they save money. In the U.S. we don’t. Consumerism is built into the American psyche. Indeed, in his bestselling book Dumbing Us Down, award-winning educator John Taylor Gatto argues that our current education system is designed to make us into compliant consumers.

How we got into all this is beyond the scope of this blog. How we are getting out of it is the drama unfolding before our eyes. Are we learning? I hope so. But if we really learn, as a nation, to live within our means, then that is going to mean that the U.S. is going to be turned upside down. So Light to all that. I have had my dealings with the I.R.S. and while everything turned out spectacularly well, thanks to grace, I can tell you that basically they are unforgiving. The Government encourages you to spend as much as you can, but do not depend on them to help you out when you enthusiastically take their advice.

But we will leave the world to unfold as it must. The approach of this blog is to live our lives in accordance with our values, spiritual and otherwise, and spend our money in accordance with those values.

Giving to God is the first step--that opens the channel. The money magnet is the second--that gets the very important relationship with the basic self on track. Gratitude is a major key to feeling, living, and representing the fullness. Living within our means engages the conscious self. Seeding, the fast way to personal abundance, brings in the High Self. We then tap into the endless supply of our Source, and Grace Tithe on the overflow we experience.

The path to abundance has been clearly laid out for us, all we need to do is walk it—lovingly.

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Frugal Tip of the Day from The Simple Dollar. Great post on what his readers have found to be their "25 Best Actions for Saving Money." A really good read.

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And Very Short List gives us good reason for paying off more than our minimum payment on our credit cards.

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Financial Quote of the Day

But the U.S. economy has now lost jobs ten months in a row, while wages and incomes have been stagnant, all of which suggests an economy that’s basically been in neutral or heading backwards for almost a year now. In other words, one could make a case that we’re well into the recession rather than near its start. Normally, that might make you think we’re also closer to the end than the beginning. But the worrisome thing about this downturn is that the bottoming process may be a long and drawn-out one, rather than anything resembling a quick snapback. Which is yet another reason for the government to think bigger when it comes to a new stimulus package.

Tithing is a way of saying, “God, pour forth whatever blessing You have for me.” God is health, or lack of disease. God is always at ease, always present, always now, and is constantly creating and expanding.

(From: God Is Your Partner by John-Roger, DSS)

I love to measure things. My breakfast alone consists of about a dozen carefully measured ingredients. So it’s natural that I would want to find a measure for wealth. If I look to dollars to measure my wealth, I might as well pack up my marbles and go home now—the volume just isn’t there at this point in my life.

Still, I feel extremely abundant and wealthy. So how do I measure it? Happiness is difficult to measure and seems to fluctuate too wildly to be reliable. But one thing is a constant in my life and it is what I use to measure my wealth--my blessings. I can truly count my blessings, and when I do I am wealthy beyond measure.

Money has its place in our world and must be handled responsibly, but it is not something I look to for wealth. Perhaps you can start to count your blessings, even write them down and see how wealthy you are. It also immediately puts the times we are living into the correct perspective.

The true harvest of my life is intangible -
a little star dust caught,
a portion of the rainbow I have clutched.

--Henry David Thoreau (Thanks to Lisa Boone’s Heart-thoughts for this one)

And in that vein here is the Smile/Zen Moment of the Day:

I shall never forget the picture of him saying his prayers on a bare ledge just beyond the cabin, looking toward the west. He went out each evening alone after supper, and I can see his black silhouette kneeling there. If ever a man exuded a sense of wholeness, it was he. He knelt for a long time, part of the North he had become, of many expeditions by canoe, snowshoe, and dog team, of the bitter cold and near starvation, but also of the serenity that comes when one knows he has given all and asked for nothing.

Serenity comes from wholeness, and one finds it in strange places. Once in a large city, while I was riding a subway, a woman took a seat just opposite mine. She was neither young nor old, but for some reason the profile of her face struck me, and it was not until she turned and smiled briefly that I saw the serenity in her eyes. I wanted to talk to her but did not dare, and although this happened many years ago, I have never forgotten the look on her countenance. She got off shortly and I watched her go with regret, but her serenity left itself with me. What gave her a sense of peace and wholeness I shall never know.

Sigurd. F. Olson from Reflections from The North Country

Still no one knows. Financial Quote of the Day from Floyd Norris, the chief financial correspondent of The New York Times. And if he doesn’t know....

Now we have hedge funds, which have accumulated, without regulation or disclosure to anyone, huge positions with high leverage. The rumors say they are being forced to dump, further depressing prices. Are the rumors true? Who knows? How much more selling do they have to make? Another good question.

In the Greek peninsula early in the fifth century BC, there emerged a group of individuals, many of them with beards, who were singularly free of the anxieties about status that tormented their contemporaries. These philosophers were untroubled by either the psychological or the material consequences of a humble position in society, they remained calm in the face of insult, disapproval, and penury (extreme poverty). When Socrates saw a pile of gold and jewellery being borne in procession through the streets of Athens, he exclaimed, “Look how many things there are which I don’t want.” When Alexander the Great passed through Corinth, he visited the philosopher Diogenes and found him sitting under a tree, dressed in rags, with no money to his name. Alexander, the most powerful man in the world, asked if he could do anything to help him. “Yes,” replied the philosopher, “if you could step out of the way. You are blocking the sun.”

This amusing and rather pointed quote helps direct us to what the main thrust of this blog is. We are divine beings, connected to the Source of all, thus we have overflowing abundance, prosperity, and riches built into our very nature. We lack for nothing therefore our baseline is fullness. From that full place we can expand into receiving more bounty for our highest good and in alignment with what we are here to learn. It is wonderful when we tithe and when we seed to start with that divine connection which denies us nothing we need, and loves us unconditionally.

"If we ask for anything in terms of this world, in terms of Spirit, in terms of another individual--we must be willing to give to receive. We must be willing to make the first overture, that first presentation. If we're going to manifest fullness, then we must represent fullness. If we represent fullness all the time, what do we have? Fullness. It's not positive thinking because you can positively think it full and not be full. You manifest fullness. You become that all the time. And no matter what happens, you pull from inside of you and give of the fullness." Dr. John-Roger, DSS Manifesting God's Abundance

Yesterday's post brought up more thoughts for me. Shelley and I don't go to Ikea simply because we are happy with what we have and even an innocent visit there, "Let's just see what they've got," would inundate our senses with things that we never knew existed, and thus did not want, but with which now we can't live without and must have. Similarly, I avoid pouring through catalogs that arrive in the mail or glare at me from plane seats.

So is all this avoidance of friends' homes and Ikea, lack? Possibly, but I am reminded by J-R saying, "The eyes are always hungry" and being aware of that I try to keep them satiated by what I already have. Now I must confess I do visit Amazon.com often, where, as can be seen from my purchases, my eyes appear to be consistently starving.

But I digress. In living the spiritual principles of abundance and prosperity, one of the baselines is the quote that heads this post--living from the fullness. This quote is so rich with meaning and has informed my approach to life. If I should go into lack, I remind myself that I lack for nothing and return to the fullness. Am I kidding myself? No, not when I stay within my own experience and don't look into the world for reasons to feel deprived.